The City of Riverside will have to wait a little longer for its first food hall.

The opening of the Riverside Food Lab has been pushed back from spring to sometime this summer as construction continues at the 3605 Market St. property.

The Food Lab’s electric marquee had been announcing a spring opening for weeks, as had postings on its Facebook page.

Nick Pacific of Pomona-based Arteco Partners said it is shooting for a soft opening in mid-June to be followed by a grand opening celebration in July.

But the property lacks adequate utilities.

On Tuesday, May 15, the Riverside City Council voted to approve natural gas lines for the project with no discussion and Councilman Mike Gardner absent.

Specifically, the vote was to grant Southern California Gas Company’s request for a 5-foot grant of easement “to provide proper gas service” to the building because “it has been determined that the existing gas line servicing the building is not sufficient” for the city-owned property, according to a memorandum from the city’s Community & Economic Development Department.

The memorandum says opening is expected “in late summer of 2018 (if not sooner).”

The 12,000-square foot property is next to the Fox Performing Arts Center. It was built in 2013 and leased to Arteco in October 2016 to jump in on a national trend.

Food halls are “popping up around the United States at a breakneck pace,” according to a recent report by retail estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

They are different from traditional shopping mall food courts in that they attract entrepreneurs and pop-up restaurants with shorter leases. They appeal to younger, hipper consumers with eclectic tastes.

Food halls are in line with the eating habits of millennials, and in the case of the Food Lab, increase dine-out options for vegans. They are also, according to Cushman & Wakefield, the ultimate amenity for mixed-use, office, and multifamily projects,” which is what Riverside wants for the neighborhood surrounding the Food Lab to be.

Mixed-use, which brings together apartment housing, retail and office space, is what Riverside wants the neighborhood surrounding Food Lab to be.

In his 2018 state of the city address, Mayor Rusty Bailey included the Food Lab in a rundown of mixed-use projects that included Imperial Hardware Lofts, Mission Lofts, Mission Heritage Plaza, and Stalder Plaza, all low-rise apartment buildings in development with retail or office space.

“All of them are within walking distance to 50,000 jobs in Riverside’s downtown core,” said Bailey.

“We are known as the No. 4 destination for minority entrepreneurs and the No. 1 destination for millennials in the entire country,” he said. “That’s a brain gain, folks.”

Fielding Buck has been a business reporter since 2014 with a focus on logistics, supply chain and GIS. Prior experience includes extensive entertainment reporting. He loves photography and dogs and lives in San Bernardino County.